As Kelly Dwyer noted, Kevin McHale and Kevin Garnett have been intertwined for a long time: McHale retired from the NBA in 1993, and was GM of the Minnesota Timberwolves only two years later. In the 1995 NBA draft, he made the seemingly risky decision to pick Garnett, an unseasoned high-schooler and the first player drafted without any college experience in 20 years. In 2007, after a twelve-year period in which Garnett made McHale look extremely wise for taking a flier on him, McHale traded his frustrated star to his former team and, that season, saw him win a championship in Boston.

McHale's daughter died of complications related to Lupus on November 24, and McHale has only been back coaching the Rockets since Dec. 8—just four games, including the Rockets win over the Celtics last night. The traditional postgame handshakes turned into something more when McHale and Garnett greeted one another at mid-court.